Sleeping Beauty and Other Stuff

I remember someone telling me before I had kids that girls and boys are essentially the same.  They said that  only act like girls or boys because we teach them to act that way.  I don't buy into this AT ALL.  As soon as Dax could walk, he wanted to throw, hit, tackle anything he could get his chubby little hands on.  I am not saying that the girls never throw or hit or tackle, but there is MOST definitely a difference. 

Cora is turning into a seriously girly girl.  For about the last week or so, she has decided that her jammies are just not fancy enough.  So, sometime after I put her in her bed and kiss her goodnight, she adds a frilly tutu to her pajamas.  I didn't think about taking a picture the first few times, so last night I snuck into her room and took a picture...this tutu is white and so it is a little harder to see.   

It is getting harder and harder to catch this little girl tutu-less.  She puts them on over her jeans, too.  Speaking of dressing up, the other day after lunch the kids were playing upstairs.  The girls were playing princesses in Arden's room, and Dax wanted to play too.  Here is one pretty princess!

Luckily for Preston, his wish came true and Daxton now dresses up in his dinosaur costume every time the girls start putting on their princess dresses.  (I used to occasionally discover that poor Dax had been dressed up as a princess by his sweet sisters...Don't worry, even though Preston has forbidden me to post a picture of the boy in a dress on the internet, I have one saved to show to his fiance someday) . 

Here is a picture of the dress-up crew.  Kinda looks like Arden needs some bigger dress up clothes.  I told her that maybe it was time to pass down this Cinderella dress to Cora, and she looked at me with a straight face and said, "Why?  It fits great!"  Um, okay. 

So far the kids don't differ too much in what they like to watch on television.  Dax will happily sit through the Little Mermaid or Sleeping Beauty, and the girls don't mind watching Kung Fu Panda.  Their latest and greatest favorite show to watch is "Octonauts" from the Disney Channel.  The Octonauts are cute little animals that explore the oceans and teach kids about different kinds of sea creatures.  It is pretty educational, and the characters and kind of cute...how-EVER, some of them confuse me.  For example, what the heck is this pink guy?



I would guess from his legs that he is an octopus, but if that is the case, why does he have piggy ears?  And why does he have a nose like a dog?  Don't even get me started on whatever these things are:

Arden just told me that this is a "Vegi-mal." They are kind of like helpers to the main animal characters.  So somehow these cute little Octonaut animals have figured out a way to cross animal and vegetable DNA, and created themselves a small army of mutants to cook and clean for them.  Kind of creepy actually.  Maybe whoever created these vegimals did some genetic experiments on the octopus and that is how he got his piggy ears and doggie nose?  I am rambling.  Guess it is time to go run and then hit the sack.  As you were.

Livin' the Dream

Last week me and the twibs were making a run to Great Harvest bread.  This is something we started doing recently.  When the kids were babies, if you told me to go to a whole separate store just to get bread, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.  A couple of years, or even just one year ago there was no way I was lugging two (or three) kids out of the car just to grab a couple loaves of bread and then carry them all right back out and strap them in the car seats.  But now it is something we do for fun.  We all walk in, and I tell Dax and Corbie to go pick a little booth and sit down.  Then I grab a couple of loaves of yummy bread, pay for them and get my card punched...but all of that is really just an excuse.  Next comes the REAL reason for our visit.  The free slices of warm Cinnamon Burst bread.  Or more like "hunks," since you can't really call something that is three inches think a "slice" can you?  I grab the bread, slather some butter on it and me and the twibs hunker down for a delicious snack.  We were chowing down on our bread this particular day last week, and Cora let fly an "I wuv you, Mom."  (She says this a lot, at random times during the day...I always smile and say "I love you, too Cors" but don't think too much about it.)  There was an older guy sitting in the booth next to us.  He heard Cora, and he turned all the way around and said to me, "Wasn't that the sweetest thing?  You are one lucky lady."  "I know it."  I said.  And I do.  I am an extremely lucky girl.  Unbelievably lucky. 

I am living the dream. 

Sometimes I do forget though.  A little while ago at work, my boss got promoted, and the girl that took my spot when I went part-time was promoted to my boss' position (and is therefore now my boss).  I really like her so I was glad, but the whole situation made me kind of stop and think how if I wouldn't have chosen to stay home with the kids, that would have been me.  Me in charge of a department of over 50 people.  Me getting recognition and respect (not to mention lots more money).  I was especially thinking about it one day early in January one day when I was cleaning poo off the floor because Cora had decided to take off her own diaper.  Did I really choose this?  But later that day we were outside playing (it was one of those near-50 degree days before winter really came), and I was laying on the grass while the kids all "Zaugg-piled" me (a Zaugg-pile is a bunch of people named Zaugg piling on top of each other).  I was looking up at the beautiful blue sky, all covered with beautiful children who love me, and I realized that of course  I had made the right choice. There is absolutely no question.  If myself seven years ago could see myself today, she would be ecstatic. 

Have you read this article?  It has been making the rounds on Facebook, and it has a pretty good message for us young moms.  Even though I know that I am blessed beyond belief, I need to give myself a break if I don't spend every second of my life in pure parental bliss and gratitude.  Who can feel bliss while wiping poo off the floor?  Not me.  I think the fact that I had to wait so long to become a mother helps me to appreciate it more, but there are days that are loooong and end with me watching the clock and counting down the minutes until bedtime. But I try to be the mom that the kids' birth mothers would want and expect me to be.  They trusted me to do my best with these little people, and that helps me remember and try a little harder to be the mom they would want me to be.

Plus, bedtime is sometimes fun.  Here is Preston reading the bedtime story to the kids...this isn't going to work for much longer!  It will be a sad day when we can't fit all three on one lap anymore.

Last night it snowed again, so we built ourselves a decent sized snowman (sorry the picture is fuzzy, it was snowy and foggy all at once):

That is it for my random thoughts for tonight.  Too bad Great Harvest is closed, I am craving a hunk of Cinnamon Burst!  

Naps are Totally Underappreciated

Naps. 

Oh, how I love them.  I LOVE it when the kids take them.  And there are days when I long to take a nap myself.  I remember the days before we had kids when I would take a nap pretty much every Sunday after church, and it was soooo very nice.  Naps are amazing.  Naps are fabulous.  I know that, and you know that.  So how come the people who actually have access to regular naps do not appreciate them in the least?  *Sigh*

Arden NEVER takes a nap.  Like ever.  Which means neither do I.  Dax takes naps maybe half the time.  And now Cora is starting to miss quite a few.  "WHY?!??" I ask them.  They have no real answer.  "I don't want to" is what I usually get.  I have tried and tried to explain to them the sheer awesomeness of taking a nap, but they aren't buying it.  "Someday, " I tell them, "you will WISH you could have a nap every afternoon."  Someday they will.  And I will hopefully be there to say "I-told-you-so."

Cora, instead of taking a nap the other day, decided to see how many shirts she could put on at once.

The answer is:  FIVE. 

In other randomness...'tis the season for art projects.  Now that the days are short and cold, we are coloring and painting and play-dohing our brains out.  I decided to spruce up the playroom with some of the kids' latest masterpieces.  Ta-dah:

Preston has started a "Biggest Loser" competition at his work (which is kind funny because he canNOT stand to watch that show. Truth be told, I can only watch that show if I am working out...and I have to hit the skip button every time someone gets on the scale.  Seriously, can't those guys afford a scale that doesn't make an annoying beeping sound for 2 solid minutes before it tells them how much they weigh?  I know it is there to build the drama, but it is just plain annoying.  Rant over.  Anyhoo...).  Preston had his second weigh-in today and he is down 11 pounds in two weeks.  Eleven.  Pounds.  WOW!  He has been trying super hard, and I am really proud of him.  Keep it up, babe! 

Have I mentioned how much my boy Dax loves Kung Fu Panda?  He loves it like crazy.  He says things to me like, "When I grow up to be Kung Fu Panda I wiw fight da bad guys wike dis!" and then he kicks the air and punches the wall while making Kung Fu noises.  Today when he was changing into his jammies, Dax had to take each piece of his clothes one at a time, wad them up in his hands, turn around in a few circles and then yell "Ska-DOOSH!" as he threw them towards his laundry hamper.  If he missed, he had to try again.  It was hilarious (but it took FOREVER.).  Then when I was giving him his good night kiss, he said, "Mom, just one wast wast two, three, four, six kisses!"  Okay, you talked me into it.

Speaking of my big little guy, he is a sunbeam now at church, and apparently he is doing great.  I have had quite a few people tell me how good he is during sharing time.  Attaboy, Dax!  He has really grown up a lot over these last few months, and has made great progress is controlling his inappropriate tackling impulses.  If he would have had to be a sunbeam right after he turned 3 like some kids, I am pretty sure there would have been a few sharing time tackles.  (Not that I am saying there will NEVER be a sharing time tackle, but hey, it is mid-way through January and there hasn't been one yet, so I am calling it a success.)  Cora is still in nursery.  I asked her the first week if she missed Dax.  She looked at me and said, "No."  Okay, then. 

I hear someone upstairs running around, so I better go and drag whoever-it-is back to their beds.  Ah, the joys.   



Snow, finally!

Snow finally showed up at our house last weekend!!  We had one big snowfall back in November, but we have hardly seen a flake for weeks and weeks and weeks.  The kids (and us) were more than ready to get outside and play in the snow.  First, the kids tried out the snowball makers they got for Christmas while Preston and I shoveled (or at least tried to shovel) the driveway.  The kids kept getting mad at me for shoveling up the snow they were using to make snowballs.  (Have you ever tried to shovel a driveway with three little kids running under your feet trying to pelt you with snowballs?  It should be an Olympic event with extra points given if you can complete the task without shoveling any of the kids.)   Anyway...the snowball makers - even Cora could get hers to work pretty good, but Dax was the king of the snowballs!  He has pretty good aim, too, so watch out!

Next, it was time for sledding.  We only have two sleds, and they are built for little kids.  Cora is still a little too small to go by herself, so Preston and I sacrifice ourselves and go down the hill with her on our laps.  Sometimes Preston even takes a turn all by himself...you know, just to show the kids how it is done.  Purely for educational purposes.  Corbie was getting really brave the other day and would climb on the sled behind Daxton and hold onto him while they went down the hill (I wish I had a picture!).  Such cute little twibs.  But here is Cora and Daddy, off and sledding:

My turn!  Cora is helping us go faster by pulling us along while I push.

 Arden is a brave solo rider, and gets going pretty fast!  Dax was still too busy throwing snowballs to get much sledding in, so that is why there are no pictures of the boy on a sled.

And finally, it was snowman time!  (Isn't this the cutest picture? Roll that snowball, Corbiecakes!)

The snow didn't stick together very well, so it took us a really long time, but we manged to put together a snowman big enough to finally try out the snowman kit we got for Christmas.  Here is "Frosty" (as named by the kids...original, huh?) surrounded by his creators, including a neighbor who came over to help:

When we were putting the snowman's pipe in his mouth, Dax asked, "Mom, what is dis?"  Um, hmmmmm.  I didn't have an answer, so I just threw a snowball at him and distracted him.  I think the pipe is so cute on the snowman, but maybe I will tell him that the snowman blows bubbles out of it or something. 

Now, a few days later, the snow is about half melted, and there is not another storm in sight.  But we enjoyed the snow while it lasted. 

I am going to be seriously displeased if all the snow that was supposed to fall in December and January falls in April and May.

Random Januaryness

All our Christmas decorations are down, and things are pretty much back to normal around here.  Dax still wants to watch "Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special" quite a bit and Cora still sings "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" pretty much every day (which is hilarious because she says, "Like a lightbulb!" during the whole song, like this:  "Woo-dof the red nose weindeeeeer had a vewy shiney nose - WIKE A WITE-BUB! an if you evah saw it, you wood even say it gwow WIKE A WITE-BUB! Aw of the udder reindeeeeer use to waf and caw him names WIKE A WITE-BUB!  They nevuh wet poh woo-dooof join in any weindeer games WIKE A WITE-BUB!"  You get the idea.) 

Nothing too big to report, we are just chugging along.  Cora, unfortunately, has started to think she doesn't need to take a nap.  Even more unfortunately, she uses the time she used to use for napping to make messes in her room.  On her floor/bed are the contents of her two bottom drawers and most of her box of wipes.  Little stinker!

Lately Arden has been on a jeans-strike.  She just wants to wear skirts and leggings every day...well, she wants to wear skirts but I make her wear leggings, even though the weather has been near 50 degrees most of this week.  I finally talked her into wearing some jeans this week, and was so excited I had to take a picture to document:

We have been lucky enough to play outside quite a bit this week, and the kids have even been taking off their jackets (sorry, no pictures).  It still gets dark pretty early, so we have been playing a lot of Hungry Hungry Hippos, Hi-Ho Cherry-Oh and Go Fish.  Luckily, Cora is a pretty fast learner and has figured out the rules of all of these games!  Dax can play them all too, but he refuses to give up any of his green fish (his favorite color) when we play go fish.  We also have been doing some art projects.  Here are my two little abstract painters: 

It actually snowed today, and feels a little bit like winter.  More on that later...